DPRK on alert against dissemination of Bibles

August 30th, 2006

From the Daily NK:
Park Hyun Min
8/30/2006

North Korean authorities are nervous about South Korean missionaries sending the Bibles via balloons to the North.

Recently, a South Korean missionary organization obtained a (North) Korean Workers’ Party document under a title of ‘Countermeasure Against Enemy’s Evil Activities of Infiltration of the Bibles to Our Country via Balloons.’

The document, which is suggested to be distributed by the Central KWP to the provincial party organization bureau and municipal party guidance bureau, is started with a phrase ‘Here is the Party’s decision, signed by the Dear Leader Comrade Kim Jong Il on June 30, 2004.’

It is stated in the document that ‘the enemies are planning to disseminate the Bibles to brainwash our people with religious idea by means of balloons.’ Also, the document orders every party organization, as soon as it receives the document, to educate party members and workers about the text.

According to the document, ‘activities such as keeping the bible found in balloons or disseminating it are acts of treason,’ and ‘education of the people not to participate in treacherous activities is to be carried out aggressively.’

The document proves North Korea’s anti-religious policy that has been continued since Kim Il Sung’s instruction of criticism on religion for being ‘reactionary and unscientific one that paralyzes class consciousness.’

Moreover, the document articulates “every Party cell must do interim assessment on its activity follow our Great General (Kim Jong Il)’s June 30 instruction against the enemy’s vile plan to distribute small radios and July 17 instruction against the enemy’s plot to disseminate religion to our country via balloons.”

This is the third document containing anti-religious message from North Korea since Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League Central Committee’s anti-religious education material reported by DailyNK last October, and the lecture document on ‘fight against the enemy’s plot to spread religion inside’ released by Good Friends, a Buddhist human rights organization in Seoul, this April.

Even though it is revealed through a series of such inside documents that North Korean regime is violating religious freedom, the country has been advertising its religious freedom to the outside. Last year when the Untied States pointed out North Korea’s suppression of religion, Pyongyang promptly responded with a statement, criticizing rather the United States is the worst violator of religious freedom.

Despite North Korea’s harsh policy against religion, ‘bible distribution movement’ and ‘radio distribution movement’ by South Korean human rights organizations and missionaries are effective to some extent and North Korean regime seems on alert over those activities.

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Red Cross to supervise aid delivery

August 30th, 2006

From the Joong Ang Daily:

Four South Korean Red Cross officials are expected to visit North Korea’s Nampo port this week to supervise the delivery of the first government aid package to help the North recover from recent flooding, an official at the Unification Ministry said yesterday.

The Red Cross officials will depart from the port of Incheon at 11 a.m. Wednesday aboard the 3,000-ton ship Trade Fortune, which sails regularly between the Koreas, according to the official.

The shipment includes 300 tons of rice, 20,000 blankets and 10,000 first aid kits, according to the official.

Seoul suspended shipments of its regular humanitarian assistance to the North shortly after Pyongyang launched seven ballistic missiles in early July, including a long-range Taepodong-2, which is believed capable of reaching the U.S. west coast.

The South Korean government says it will not make additional commitments of any economic assistance to the communist state until the North returns to stalled international negotiations with the South, Japan, China, Russia and the United States over its nuclear program.

The government, however, pledged to give 241 billion won ($251 million) worth of aid through the country’s Red Cross as one-time humanitarian assistance to the North after heavy rains there last month reportedly left hundreds of people killed or missing and thousands of others injured.

Pyongyang rejected an initial aid offer from the South Korean Red Cross last month, but its inter-Korean pro-unification organization later asked Seoul’s civic organizations and other “related offices” for rice and construction equipment, while expressing gratitude for the civic groups’ efforts to help the country recover from devastating torrential rains and flooding.

The Unification Ministry has also agreed to provide funds matching amounts raised by each civic organization, expected to total some 10 billion won.

The government’s aid through the Red Cross will include 100,000 tons of rice, 100,000 tons of iron rods, 80,000 blankets and over 200 construction vehicles.

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Red Cross to send first shipment of government flood aid to DPRK

August 29th, 2006

From Yonhap:
Byun Duk-kun
8/29/2006

Four South Korean Red Cross officials are to visit North Korea’s Nampo port this week to supervise the delivery of the first government aid package to help the North recover from recent flooding, an official at the Unification Ministry said Tuesday.

The Red Cross officials are to depart from a port in the country’s western city of Incheon at 11 a.m. Wednesday aboard the 3,000-ton ship Trade Fortune, which sails regularly between the Koreas, according to the official.

“The trip is to supervise the first shipment of the Red Cross’ flood aid to North Korea,” the official said.

The shipment includes 300 tons of rice, 20,000 blankets and 10,000 first aid kits, according to the official.

Seoul suspended shipments of its regular humanitarian assistance to the North shortly after Pyongyang launched seven ballistic missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2, which is believed capable of reaching the U.S. west coast.

The South Korean government says it will not make additional commitments of any economic assistance to the communist state until the North returns to stalled international negotiations with the South, Japan, China, Russia and the United States over its nuclear ambitions.

The government, however, pledged to give 241 billion won (US$251 million) worth of aid through the country’s Red Cross in one-time humanitarian assistance to the North after heavy rains there last month reportedly left hundreds people killed or missing and thousands of others injured.

Pyongyang rejected an initial aid offer from the South Korean Red Cross last month, but its inter-Korean pro-unification organization later requested Seoul’s civic organizations and other “related offices” for rice and construction equipment, while expressing gratitude for the civilian efforts to help the country recover from the flooding.

The Unification Ministry has also agreed to provide funds matching those raised by each civilian organization, expected to total some 10 billion won.

The government’s aid through the Red Cross is to include 100,000 tons of rice, 100,000 tons of iron rods, 80,000 blankets and over 200 construction vehicles.

South Korea provided hundreds of thousands of tons of rice and fertilizer to the impoverished North annually since heavy rains and a nationwide famine in the mid-1990s left over 2 million North Koreans dead and millions of others displaced.

North Korea requested the South to give half a million tons of rice for the year before it launched the seven missiles into the East Sea on July 5.

Government officials say the country will not consider accepting the North’s request until the North agrees to return to the international nuclear negotiations, which have stalled since November due to Pyongyang’s boycott, as well as resumes its self-imposed moratorium on missile tests.

The Koreas remain divided along a heavily-fortified border since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with a cease-fire.

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Suspects Admits Smuggling N.Korean ‘Supernotes’

August 28th, 2006

From the Choson Ilbo
8/28/2006

A Californian man indicted on charges of smuggling counterfeit dollars into the U.S. testified at his trial that the high-quality counterfeit US$100 bills or “supernotes” were manufactured in North Korea, the National Intelligence Service said Monday. The NIS reported to the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee that the man admitted conspiracy to smuggle the supernotes and admitted where the phony bills were made.

The man is a Chinese-American named Chao Tung Wu, the NIS said. There have been reports in the U.S. media quoting anonymous government officials as saying the supernotes were made in North Korea, but this is the first time the claim was confirmed in legal testimony by a chief suspect.

A joint taskforce of the FBI, the CIA, the Justice Department and the Treasury conducted secret investigations and rounded up 59 suspects around the U.S. on charges of smuggling counterfeit dollars and cigarettes in August last year. The taskforce worked under the code name “Smoking Dragon” and “Royal Charm” between 1999 and 2005. It alleges suspects attempted to smuggle millions worth of forged dollars and some $40 million worth of counterfeit cigarettes.

The case drew much publicity not only because of its sheer scale but also because of North Korea’s suspected involvement. The Treasury Department led the investigation that ended up designating Macao’s Banco Delta Asia as Pyongyang‘s “primary money laundering concern” on Sept. 15 last year, a month after the suspects were arrested.

“We should note that talk of political solutions between the U.S. and North Korea over the counterfeit dollars disappeared in South Korea and China since the end of last year,” a diplomatic source in Seoul said. Some until then claimed the U.S. was pressuring the North without clear evidence, but they lost their ground as Washington acquired evidence to support North Korea’s involvement.

The trial is likely to take one or two years, a diplomatic source said. If it ends with a guilty verdict for the main suspect for smuggling made-in-North Korea supernotes, it would get Pyongyang into serious trouble on the global stage. The North denies the charges and says the resulting sanctions amount to “theft.” The communist country in a statement last Saturday said the U.S. has produced no clear evidence so far. But the suspect’s guilty plea undermines the credibility of that claim.

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Growth of N. Korea-China trade tumbles to five-year low

August 28th, 2006

From Yonhap:
Byun Duk-kun

The increase in the first-half trade between North Korea and China fell to the smallest volume in five years, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said Monday.

Ministry officials said the slowdown did not appear to be linked to North Korea’s recent provocations, such as the test-firing of seven ballistic missiles in early July.

The amount of North Korea-China trade only increased 4.7 percent on-year to US$780 million in the January-June period, Kim Nam-sik, head of the ministry’s information and analysis bureau, told reporters.

This marked the smallest, as well as the first slowdown of, increase in trade between the close allies since 2002 when trade volume increased by 6.2 percent for the same period from a year before.

The year-on-year growth in the first-half Sino-North Korea trade reached 16.2 percent in 2003, 37 percent in 2004 and 43 percent last year, according to Kim.

The report comes amid reported signs that Beijing may have begun taking measures to reduce or limit its economic cooperation with Pyongyang as a way of expressing its dismay or anger at the North for its test-firing of seven ballistic missiles on July 5.

The ministry official, however, cautioned against interpreting the slowdown as signs of a possible disruption in relations between the communist allies, saying the reason for the slowdown appears to be economic rather than political.

“Many experts believe it (the slowdown) is more due to economic than political reasons,” Kim said.

The amount of North Korea’s exports to China for the first six months of the year decreased by more than 14 percent to some $200 million, also marking the first decline since 2000, according to a report by the information bureau.

Kim said this, too, was mainly because of economic reasons, such as the reduced price of North Korean exports to China “while the amount of exports remains the same” from that of last year.

Analysts here believe China may completely halt its economic and political relations with the North if Pyongyang decides to conduct a nuclear test.

The ministry official said there were no immediate signs of China taking such measures to punish North Korea.

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Rain Death Toll in North Totals 900

August 28th, 2006

From the Korea Times:
Park Song-wu

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in a report to the National Assembly on Monday that the death toll from heavy rain and flooding in North Korea totaled around 900.

In addition the flooding destroyed 40,000 homes and left 24,000 families homeless, a lawmaker quoted the report as saying.

The report also noted that 105 kilometers of railways and 378 kilometers of roads were either inundated or washed away.

NGOs in Seoul have argued that the floods killed around 10,000 North Koreans.

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Pyongyang Selling Missiles in Pieces: Report

August 28th, 2006

From the Korea Times:

North Korea has recently changed its means of selling missiles to avoid interception, delivering them by air instead of by sea and in the form of components and equipment rather than complete products, a U.S.-based research organization said yesterday.
In its latest report, the Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), headquartered in Monterey, California, said North Korea’s missile program appears to be under the command and control of its air force, not the army, an arrangement similar to Iran, which is believed to be buying missiles from the communist regime, according to the Yonhap News Agency in Seoul.

The report, called “CNS Resources on North Korea’s Ballistic Missile Program,” said that as Western opposition to the deliveries has increased, Pyongyang’s shipments have begun to be made by air rather than by sea, sometimes with the help of Moscow.

“Insome instances, this has been accomplished with private-sector Russian assistance, thereby calling into question the Russian government’s ability and/or willingness to control North Korea’s missile proliferation,” said the report.

The CNS Web site says the report was updated Aug. 11 this year.

North Korea also resorted to selling missile components and production equipment to clients, which include Iran, Pakistan and Syria, the report said.

“These changes will allow more rapid shipping deliveries, and interception of such shipments will become more difficult,” it said.

The CNS noted with interest that North Korea’s ballistic missiles appear to be under air force, not army, command and control.

It was Gen. Jo Myong-rok, then commander of the North Korean Air Force, who led a delegation to Iran in February 1994 to discuss testing of the Rodong missile in Iran, the report said.

“It should also be noted that Iranian ballistic missiles fall under the command and control of the air wing of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps,” it said.

North Korea’s missile program came under renewed scrutiny after the secretive regime test-fired seven missiles last month, ranging from versions of its short-range Rodong to its long-rang Taepodong presumed to be able to strike the U.S. west coast.

The CNS said that while the test launches suggest advances in North Korea’s missile capabilities, there are still several technical hurdles before the long-range versions can be fielded.

“The developmental leaps to successful multiple stage systems using large rocket motors cannot be achieved without external technological assistance,” it said.

“Some of this assistance is probably being provided by Russian specialists, both in North Korea and Russia,” said the report, due mainly to Moscow’s inability to completely halt the leakage of information.

It added that while the shorter-range Rodong missiles are operational, since it has exported some to Iran, Pakistan and other nations, “it may not have enough missiles to field a full brigade.”

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Inter-Korean trade tops US$600 mln until July

August 27th, 2006

Yonhap
8/27/2006

Trade between South and North Korea in the first seven months of this year topped US$600 millio this year due to increasing trade of agricultural products and corporate products, a local trade promotion agency said Sunday.

The inter-Korean trade reached $668 million in the January-July period, up 14.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).

Corporate-related trade, including the trading related to inter-Korean industrial complex in Kaesong, increased 31.9 percent to $489 million worth, while non-corporate trade such as government and private aids fell 15.3 percent to $178.5 million.

South Korea sent $446.6 million worth of goods to the North, down 2.2 percent, from the same period last year while the value of products coming to South Korea reached $263.2 million, up 56.8 percent, the association said.

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North Korean Education

August 27th, 2006

From the Daily NK:
Yang Jung A

The DailyNK received a North Korean 1st grade elementary school language textbook published in 2005. At present, the North Korea Database Center in Ministry of Unification is only in possession of a textbook published in 2003.

The 1st grade elementary school language textbook is similar to textbooks in South Korea, focusing on reading skills, writing and acquisition of basic vocabulary.

However, if South Korean textbooks utilize examples of daily life so that children may easily comprehend the content, then 80% of the content in North Korean textbooks can be said to be focused on idolizing the leader.

Excluding three classic tales such as ‘The ant and the grasshopper’ and ‘The green frog,’ the storybook uses information about Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il idolization to improve reading skills

Also, other related symbolic topics such as Mangyongdae traditional home, Kuho-namu(trees with carving idolization slogan about Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il), Triuphal Arch, Battle of Bocheonbo, and Kim Jong Il peak of a mountain are used as materials to develop language skills.

On a page ‘Introduction to Day 1’ are expressions indebting all school life to Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il such as “Our respective General Kim Il Sung had visited our school. We were infinitely happy to have our respective general visit our school on the first day.”

In a passage ‘I want to study,’ South Korean children are portrayed as unable to pay school fees and thus are expelled from school. This page teaches North Korean children that South Korean children “know nothing except money in a rotten world, and hate the U.S. and leaders who are blocking their future.”

In particular, irrespective of being a textbook for 1st graders, warlike expressions such as ‘Let’s become the honorific dictator’s heroic army’ and ‘Strike the Americans with kid tanks’ frequently appear in the books.

References to hostility and a glorified military that appear in half the book teaches children that they must become soldiers when they grow older.

Only 7 years old. The truth is North Korean children are taught to become the leader’s gun and bombs since the first day of school unto eternity.

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China reduces oil shipment to N.Korea

August 26th, 2006

From ABC News:
Burt Herman

China has reduced shipments of crude oil to North Korea, apparently in response to Pyongyang’s missile tests, a news report said Saturday.

China, the communist North’s closest ally and key provider of oil, also has agreed with South Korea to cooperate to prevent a possible North Korean nuclear test.

South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper said China has reduced “a significant amount” of its oil supplies to Pyongyang since the July 5 missile launches.

The report cited unnamed officials at an oil storage terminal near the Chinese border city of Dandong.

Officials could not be reached for comment Saturday.

There are growing concerns, bolstered by reports of suspicious activity, that Pyongyang may be planning to follow up its missile launches with a nuclear test. Pyongyang claims to have nuclear weapons but hasn’t performed any known test.

Song Min-soon, South Korea’s presidential security adviser, said Saturday that a North Korean nuclear test would be “a grave situation of a different level from missile launches and that South Korea and China have agreed to continue cooperation not to let that situation occur.”

Song, who returned from a two-day trip to Beijing on Friday, refused to elaborate how the two countries would cooperate.

South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States have tried in six-party talks to convince the North to abandon its nuclear program.

South Korea’s seismic authorities said they detected a tremor in North Korea on Friday, but ruled out an underground nuclear test.

Talks on the North’s nuclear program have been stalled since November, when negotiators failed to make headway in implementing the North’s agreement to drop its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security guarantees.

Pyongyang has since refused to attend the six-party talks until Washington stops blacklisting a bank where the North’s regime held accounts, a restriction imposed over alleged counterfeiting and money laundering.

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